The first boats typically cross the finish line on Sunday. Winners are determined based on a handicapping system.

As a prelude to the Bell's Beer Bayview Mackinac Race, thousands of partiers flocked to downtown Port Huron and spread out along the banks of the Black River on Friday to celebrate the annual Boat Night, the last blowout before the Port Huron-to-Mackinac Island Sailboat Race.

There were rumbles of thunder and a few showers, but they did little to dampen the spirits of revelers.

“I’m not worried,” said Fred Peabody, of Port Huron. “We had storm clouds at 6, and those passed us by. These will as well.”

Most party-goers were enthusiastic about the night’s festivities.

“This is (one of) the best places to be in Michigan ... I would give it top five,” said Nicholas Holzwart, of Pigeon. “Look at all these people here, there are a lot of people. You want diversity, there’s diversity.

“There’s a river — I jumped in a river not too long ago.”

Port Huron police reported few incidents as of 10:30 p.m.

Doug Carlson, of Grosse Pointe, a veteran of the yacht race, doesn’t do Boat Night anymore. He and his crew have amassed two firsts, two seconds and a third place aboard his sailboat, Freeway.

It’s hard to get those results after a night of drinking, Carlson said.

While most people were in Port Huron on Boat Night either ready to party or preparing for today’s sailboat race to Mackinac Island, David Phillips and Louis Santiago, both Marysville residents, had more nefarious reasons.

“We are going to pillage and plunder,” David Phillips said. “Arrgh.”

The two friends were trying to make what they call Pirate Fest part of the greater tradition of Boat Night.

Santiago was in full regalia, wearing eyeshadow and rocking his best Capt. Jack Sparrow impression. The skull and crossbones flew from their boat.

(Page 2 of 2)

Phillips said pirates just want to have fun.

“We’re just going to hang out at the boat, have a good time, talk to people, do some people-watching,” Phillips said. “Talk to our boat neighbor — we don’t get the chance to hang out with them all the time.”

Kim Powers, a Fort Gratiot resident, said she has been going to Boat Night every year for the last 20 years. It is undoubtedly the best event in Port Huron, she said.

One of the reasons she keeps coming back is because she keeps bumping into old friends.

“You get to reunite to people you haven’t seen for 15 to 20 years,” Powers said. “People will come back to this and they’ll reunite.”

Susan Bieganski, a Yale resident who was at her second Boat Night, was in Port Huron to socialize and let loose. She also likes the boats, she said.

“The boats are beautiful,” Bieganski said. “The sailboats are great to watch.”

Amy Robtoy, a waitress at the Zebra Bar, 522 Quay St., said the bar was packed to the rafters early in the afternoon. Boat Night brings out a larger and more diverse crowd than any other night, Robtoy said.

“It brings in different people,” Robtoy said. “It brings in different faces, and a lot of them.”

Robtoy said one of her patrons has been going to the Zebra Bar every Boat Night for the last 30 years.

“He knows the place to drink,” she said.

Steve Paftewfki, owner of the Military Street Music Café, 1102 Military St., said establishments removed from the Black River don’t get as much business.

“We get the night-crawlers, but we don’t get bigger crowds; they have too many options,” Paftewfki said. “The city has the beer tents set up, and people aren’t going to walk this far.”

Paftewfki said things were different in the past.

“Businesses have seen less of a crowd in the last 10 years,” Paftewfki said. “They’re not the numbers that have been reported.”

Kristen DeWitte, a barista at the Raven Café, 932 Military St., said business was booming.

“We do get a lot of people who come in,” Dewitte said. “They’re in high spirits, and they’re having a good time.”